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The Companions of the Seven Swords with the assistance of the Medieval Swordsman Guild of KC invite all folk of good coat armor desirous of displaying their art, adding to their renown, and to their knowledge of fighting in harness and those with aspirations of joining that company to gather with us at the manor known locally as “The Barn” for classes and discussions related to the art and context of fighting in harness with historical techniques and a chance to put theory into practice under the rules of the Dekoven Concord.

As of 5/15/18, we can easily accommodate up to another 12 individuals in rooms and around six more people in tents

Invoices due August 7!

YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS THIS EVENT

PRACTIONERS WILL LEARN FROM SOME OF THE BEST MASTERS THE U.S. HAS TO OFFER.

Event opportunities include hands on classes, coached sparring, tournements, armor class, and group discussions about applying medieval concepts about chivalry to our sport. The setting allows for a retreat like opportunities to form relationships like minded individuals.

Moreover, the central location with a rural picturesque setting as well as lovely amenities can’t be beat. All expenses included.

How to get here? Fly into Kansas City International Airport. For Drivers, take I-70 west from Ohio or east from Utah, Take I-35 north from Texas or south from Minnesota, then make a few turns off the beaten path and wala!

Additionally, Reece Nelson and Ben Bruce of the You Tube Channel, “Pursuing the Knightly Arts” will be in attendance.

CURRICULUM:

Going To The Ground In Armor (And Getting Back Up Again) Taught by Scott Farrell

This workshop will focus on the (often) final and (definitely) most brutal aspect of fighting in harness: armored grappling.

Participants will learn various essential grappling and takedown techniques from the German fighting tradition, along with an approach to the armored grappling fight that emphasizes the safety and well-being of both sparring partners. Training will start with the basics of falling and rolling safely in armor, and advance through a specific set of takedown techniques that allow support and control of the falling/grounded partner.

The ultimate aim of the session is to allow participants to be able to include limited historically accurate grounding/grappling in armored freeplay with minimal risk of head/neck/arm injury in the execution.

Along with harness (as much as possible) participants should bring longsword and dagger for class work. (A small number of weapons to loan will be available.)

Fighting Blind (AKA I Can’t See Anything with this Helm!) Taught by Tim Delrie

This class will work on developing tactile sensitivity during close engagement while operating with the limited vision that comes with an enclosed helmet.

Focusing on proper structure, footwork, and sensitivity, which are the foundation of successful martial prowess, students will work on developing tactile skills and body mechanics required when the fight with long weapons shifts and enters the close play as well as developing the strategies and techniques needed in the close bind.

Staves of various lengths will be on hand and used to represent long weapons. Gloves are recommended. Blindfolds will be present so that so that anyone can participate, using the lack of vision to help develop tactile sensitivity; feel free to supply your own.

Spear, The Queen of Weapons Taught by Brian Scott Wilson

The spear or lance is perhaps man’s oldest weapon. It was used both on foot and on horse as well as in armor and without. This class will focus on the use of the spear in armored combat.

The class will concentrate on the basics of how the spear is used on foot, although some mounted spear play may be discussed. We will cover Fiore’s approach to the weapon, how to deliver a proper thrust with structure, how to defend yourself with a spear, and how to use the spear to its advantage. You will come away with an understanding of how to offend and defend with the long spear while in harness.

Some spears will be available to borrow but please bring one if you have it. Harness isn’t required but it is encouraged.

Monitored Sparring Coordinated by Stan Roberts

Something that can be extremely beneficial, yet absent from many events and workshops, is a chance to try new techniques against an opponent in an informal setting. Students often have to make a leap from drilling techniques in isolation to finding themselves in public bouts wherein anything at all can happen. When that happens many students abandon techniques learned in drills if favor of more basic actions in which they have a higher confidence, resulting in a slowdown in the expansion of a student’s repertoire of workable techniques.

The monitored sparring session offers attendees a chance to try new concepts and techniques learned in the symposium’s classes (or from other training circumstances) in a low-stress bout where those techniques can be tried without risk of public “failure.” For example, a bout can be limited to fighting from (or against) a certain guard or a certain attack, or it could focus on fighting from the bind, or whatever the students want to emphasis or facilitate really.

The purpose of the monitoring is to provide real-time feedback to the fighters and to ensure both fighters stay within the framework established for the bout, along with the usual safety monitoring. The intent is practice in earnest while wearing, full harness and/or safety equipment appropriate to the List in which the fighters intend to participate during the passage at arms on Saturday.

Uncle Bob’s Armor Schmooze hosted by BOB . . . Chaerette

What’s an armor schmooze? It is something I have done at Western Martial Arts Workshop and the Chicago Swordplay Guild’s off year events at the Dekoven Center. It’s not a class exactly, although it will have educational aspects for recent and veteran converts to armor geekdom. It’s not a lecture, although I expect to be talking a lot about the images I’ll be showing.

We’ll be indoors, where we can hook up a computer or projector to display the set of images I will have prepared for your delectation. Most of what we will be looking at will be art, both two and three dimensional, and I will be giving context for the images where available, pointing out issues in recognizing useful art from medieval flights of fancy, and occasionally speculating on elements present in the art. I have been hunting information on medieval armor for for over 45 years; with that time in harness (as it were) even Fiore dei Liberi would conclude that I have some sort of expertise worth imparting, despite not being a perfect master of the subject.

Traditionally, the selection of images is driven by things that have caught my interest since the last schmooze. Will that be the driving paradigm this time? Drop by and see.

Questions of Chivalry, a Discussion in the Style of Geoffrey de Charny’s “Questions” Led by Bob Charrette and Scott Farrel

In his lifetime, Geoffrey de Charny was considered a paragon of chivalry. His reputation was such that when King Phillip VI of France wanted to revive the heart of chivalry following the disastrous battle of Crecy which had devastated the kingdom’s veteran knights, he turned to Charny as a font of wisdom and experience. Presumably this royal charge begat Charny’s “Questions” and may have been motivation in his writing his Knight’s Own Book of Chivalry, both important resources in the study of chivalry in general and the state of chivalry in the mid-fourteenth century. Part of this importance comes because Charny was neither a cleric nor dilettante author, but a practicing knight with serious campaign experience.

Modern practitioners of chivalry do not live in Charny’s world. Our needs and concerns differ from Charny’s especially in matters of martial practice as are addressed in his “Questions”. Even our modern adherence to chivalric virtues face challenges in our modern world.

We will pose a series of questions formulated in the style of Charney’s “Questions”. These questions will relate to chivalric practice, both on and off the list field. We will invite discussion among attendees, occasionally guiding it, as together we seek a common understanding of virtuous chivalric practice suitable for martial practice in our modern world of weekend knights and for expressing chivalric values in our dealings on and off the field.

ACCOMODATIONS AND PRICING:

Rooms sleep between two and six individuals.

Limited PERIOD camping is available. Period tents for those camping are required. It may be possible to borrow a tent from someone in the local group.

Costs: (include all activities, B&B amenities, meals and snacks)

$25 event Fee.

* Camping/Day Trip: $35 per person per night (includes all amenities)
* Rooms: Varies based on how many individuals will be sharing a room. The base rate is $161 + tax for up to 2 people per night. Additional people per room is $49+ tax. See pricing break out below based on a two night stay.